Key West Recap!

Howdy friends!

Hope this message finds you all well. As always, thank you so much for being a part of this newsletter and for all the continued support in the world of guitar, travel, food and music! It’s been a whirlwind around here, but we’re not slowing down anytime soon.

It’s always great to go to Key West for the BMI Key West Songwriters Festival. This is a nice combination of catching up with old friends, playing some music and getting a little mini vacation in one of the most beautiful parts of our country and the only tropical island in the Caribbean you can drive to.

The music is always fun, but what I really love about this trip is getting out on the water. It was so awesome exploring some new territory a few miles out into the mangrove islands which are filled with an abundance of sea life. We took an epic excursion with a local captain and fisherman who’s interestingly enough also a tennis pro. My good friend JP who owns the boat down there was kind enough to invite us along for what turned out to be just simply an amazing day. There’s nothing like soaking up the sand, salt and sun!

I started going down to Key West when I was a teenager to play duo gigs at the Hog’s Breath Saloon— where I first met Charlie Bauer who ran the place. He and BMI started the songwriters festival years later. So there’s been a strong connection there for a long time. We love Charlie.

I really enjoy going down to the Florida Keys— it’s a fascinating area to me mixed with a lot of mystery, intrigue and full of real characters. From the shipwrecks—like the Atocha and Mel Fisher—to the drug smugglers and transients that just end up down there because they’re on the run or just tired of normal life on the mainland (or the cold winters). It is a weird, wild and wonderful place and there’s certainly no lack of local color!

Earnest Hemingway being one of the most well known that landed there for a while. We stayed right across from his old house (filled with 6 toed cats) on this trip.

But when you really get down to it, it’s all about the water activities and the fishing these days. Diving the 3rd largest barrier reef on the planet and the Dry Tortugas is just stunning when you get out in the clear aqua blue water. As we all know, anybody can get drunk till the wee hours on Duvall Street, but it’s magical to explore the abundance of incredible wildlife that surrounds these amazing islands.

Add it to your list if you haven’t already experienced the Florida Keys and Key West!

We’ve got The Bitter End shows coming up with the GT Trio and then I go to the California coast for about a week for some much needed downtime. I’m super grateful and fortunate to be as busy as I want to be right now as a working musician.

This is what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little kid and it could not have worked out more perfectly, due to people like yourself supporting all the things that my friends and I are doing. I can’t wait to focus on making some new music and for all the projects to come that we have planned.

I hope you enjoy the photo highlights below and I look forward to seeing you guys all real soon!

Thank you so much,

Guthrie Trapp